4 ms·

The politically correct and their defenders engage in Crocodile Humor, the laughter of the powerful at the powerless[1]. It is an ugly thing to behold. "Many U

The politically correct and their defenders engage in Crocodile Humor, the laughter of the powerful at the powerless[1]. It is an ugly thing to behold. "Many UR readers have had the priceless educational privilege of growing up behind the Iron Curtain. These readers will identify Professor DeLong’s tone at once: it is the tone of the Soviet humor magazine Krokodil[2]. I will take the liberty of Anglicizing, and call it “crocodile humor.” Extremely educated readers may also be familiar with the Nazi variant, as found in Der Stürmer and the like. The material is different, of course, but the tone is unmistakable. We’ll hear a good deal more of it in the next four years. Crocodile humor is the laughter of the powerful at the powerless. It is not intended to be funny. It is intended to intimidate. Those who laugh, as many do, are those who love to submerge themselves in a mob, feel its strength as theirs, chant and shake their spears as one." [1] http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2008/11/president-obama-with-little-perspective.html http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2008/11/preside... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krokodil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krokodil

rollo_tommasi 13y ago
It is beyond ludicrous to suggest that a C-suite executive at a media company is "the powerless".
- newnewnew 13y ago
  Who can get who fired is a flawed measure of power, but a good first approximation. Which groups can say racist statements about which other groups and still keep their jobs? Also a good question for measuring relative power. We'll ask Anil Dash[1] If your HR department toes the official feminist line, feminism has power. If someone can get you fired for making a dongle joke to your friend, that is power. The myth that white males all hold positions of power is itself evidence of the power that cultural Marxists hold. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6361167 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6361167
theorique 13y ago
Mr Dickinson tweeted disparaging comments about female developers (while serving as CTO and thus being in a position to hire developers). He tweeted out sarcastic comments about the "Passion of the Christ" with a racial slur against blacks. Oh, and he did this from a twitter account with mini-bio that featured his position as CTO of Business Insider. I'm far from politically correct, but if I were CEO and this were my CTO, and I heard about this, he would have one and only one chance to make his account anonymous and disconnect it from my company and my brand. Personal views and "your own time" is one thing, but when you put your professional title (especially at CxO level) and your company name in your twitter bio, you're representing a brand whether or not you want to be. He wasn't fired because liberals engaged in Crocodile Humor. He was fired because he made an unprofessional social media decision and attracted a hurricane of shit from a broad swath of the internet that spilled over to the brand of his company.

rollo_tommasi 13y ago

It is beyond ludicrous to suggest that a C-suite executive at a media company is "the powerless".

newnewnew 13y ago
Who can get who fired is a flawed measure of power, but a good first approximation. Which groups can say racist statements about which other groups and still keep their jobs? Also a good question for measuring relative power. We'll ask Anil Dash[1] If your HR department toes the official feminist line, feminism has power. If someone can get you fired for making a dongle joke to your friend, that is power. The myth that white males all hold positions of power is itself evidence of the power that cultural Marxists hold. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6361167 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6361167

theorique 13y ago

Mr Dickinson tweeted disparaging comments about female developers (while serving as CTO and thus being in a position to hire developers). He tweeted out sarcastic comments about the "Passion of the Christ" with a racial slur against blacks. Oh, and he did this from a twitter account with mini-bio that featured his position as CTO of Business Insider. I'm far from politically correct, but if I were CEO and this were my CTO, and I heard about this, he would have one and only one chance to make his account anonymous and disconnect it from my company and my brand. Personal views and "your own time" is one thing, but when you put your professional title (especially at CxO level) and your company name in your twitter bio, you're representing a brand whether or not you want to be. He wasn't fired because liberals engaged in Crocodile Humor. He was fired because he made an unprofessional social media decision and attracted a hurricane of shit from a broad swath of the internet that spilled over to the brand of his company.